On May 23, 2016, in an interesting development in one of the more high profile lawsuits to arise out of the financial crisis, the Second Circuit reversed the $1.27 billion civil penalty that Southern District of New York Judge Jed Rakoff  imposed on Countrywide and several related defendants in a case involving the company’s sale of mortgages to government sponsored entities. A copy of the Second Circuit’s opinion can be found here.

In the following guest post, attorneys from the Paul Weiss law firm take a look at the Second Circuit’s decision and discusses its implications, particularly with respect to the government’s use of the the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA) to prosecute financial institutions’ alleged to have committed financial misconduct.
Continue Reading Guest Post: Second Circuit Strikes Down Imposition of $1.27 Billion FIRREA Penalty